…is why I lost the seven pounds last month. I guess some of it is due to the swimming and the walking and this class I’m taking at the gym, all of which are technically part of This Thing in the broader sense of its thingness. But that’s all stuff I’ve done before, whereas This Thing I’m Doing is different, for me, at least. This Thing I’m Doing is a vegan diet.
Well, it’s vegan in the sense that there’s no meat and no dairy. I really should call it something else, though, since I’m not concerned with avoiding various animal-product ingredients like gelatin and honey (because I guess I don’t care enough about the poor horsies and the bumbly bees). I’ll also allow myself something with meat or dairy once in a while. So it’s a cheatin’ kind of vegan. It’s cheagan.
Mostly, though, it’s eating a ton of vegetables and limiting everything else, like bread and starchy stuff and nuts. It’s based on this book and this plan. And yes, I know exactly how dour and dull and totally unlubricated it seems. But somehow, it’s not really like that. Somehow, I like it.
And I like better than Weight Watchers. I know for an awful lot of you who read this site, WW works for you; it just wasn’t working for me anymore. The reasons probably have more to do with me than with the plan. For me, doing WW was like having a crazy mother; a well-intentioned but obsessive and inconsistent and maybe even drunk mother. (Yes, I know that watching Mommie Dearest the other night probably made me think up this analogy.) But really, some days I’d be all, “WW Mommy, may I have some cake?” And she’d be half-passed out on the couch and she’d go, “Sure, shweetie.” But then other days she’d freak out and make me do all these bizarre chores, and I’d be like, “But WW Mommy, I don’t want to count out and line up all the Cheerios in the box,” and she’d scream that if I didn’t do it I wouldn’t be a good little girl, and it was all my fault for eating that cake. You know? Well, maybe you don’t, and that’s okay. But with me and This Thing I’m Doing, every day is pretty much the same. And I know the kind of inner mom that comes with This Thing is sort of boring and you probably wouldn’t want to come over to my house after school, so to speak, but I’m a lot less nuts now. Right now This Thing feels better than pretending I can have it all, which is what I did in the past.
That said, it’s a LOT of work, like a shitload of cooking and planning and shopping. It would be even harder if there weren’t several really good produce stores nearby and on my way home from work. Chris and I are doing it together, which helps a lot, and our fridge and freezer and pantry are vast expanses of nutritional no-fun-at-all. And we love it, perversely.
The only thing I’ve been counting is days. Today is Day 24 of doing This Thing, which puts it in perspective a little, because after the first week it’s easy to delude myself into thinking that I’ve been doing it long enough to have completely rearranged my DNA. Uh, no. And I weigh myself again next week. I’ll tell you how it goes.
I’m not vegan (I like eggs, good cheese, and fish too much), but I have been making lots of vegan meals lately. Sarah Kramer’s La Dolce Vegan! is a fantastic little cookbook, if you haven’t seen it.
Isn’t swimming the greatest? I’ve become a born-again swimmer after about 20 years away from the pool. The cool thing is that even if you sweat, you don’t know it.
Also, the “thing” you’re doing sort of IS the new WW core program. Fruit, vegetables, lean protein sources with occasional cheating…
The thing that always gets me after losing weight is that I think somehow I AM DIFFERENT NOW. Which is to say that I have lost weight. So, of course I decide that it is ok for me to eat like a naturally thin person. It NEVER is, I gain it all back and then some. It sounds like what you are doing, and good for you by the way, is a life change rather than a short term try at getting thin. I am not sure – but I think that the life change stuff might just work better. Anyway, you will have to let us know!
Ginna: yeah, when I first started doing this, I noticed the similarities to Core. Which is funny, because when Core first launched it didn’t appeal to me at all, and so many people I knew who tried it felt so constrained. And even now that I’m on the other side, so to speak, I can still see what they mean, because when it’s side-by-side with the Points plan, Core does feel awfully restrictive, even though I think it makes more sense.
I love the WW Mommy analogy. WW does work for me and works well, but there are days when the obsessive small math gets to me. And then I wonder if I’m annoying myself, how much I must be annoying the hell out of everyone else around me even more.
I totally get what you mean with the WW mommy. I’ve been trying alternatives to lose again myself and I couldn’t go back to the obsessive points thing. This thingy you are doing looks interesting I’ll have to check out the book. 🙂
Core seems scary because it appears that you can never, ever have candy or something fabulous like a McRib again. Also, you are expected to stop eating when “satisfied.” Oh yeah, like there’s any such thing! You just have to remember you can cheat a little.
i love eat to live. i’m a backsliding vegan (i eat dairy once or twice a month) who’s doing weight watchers, and i have to say that the combo is the only thing that has ever worked for me, even though i’m a v*gan for ethical and not dietary reasons. i lost 8 lbs last month! yay!
congrats on feeling better and finding something you’re happy with!
Yeah, it sounds a lot like WW’s Core, which I’m sort of doing right now. The frustrating part is that almost NO ONE ELSE at WW does the Core and the meetings are always Flex-focused and have lame-ass topics like: How to avoid scarfing down free Halloween candy. Which has never really been challenging for me.
You convinced me. I ordered the book. Now, let’s see how it goes.
Good for you! 24 days is a long time on a New Thing. I’m trying a similar approach based on Dr. Oz’s “YOU: On a Diet” plan. Good luck to you!
http://frumpyfitness.blogspot.com/
i netflix-ed mommie dearest for the hell of it the other day. it was my first time to see it. so, the image is fresh in my mind and i totally get the comparison.
i’m on ww right now and let’s just say i used a wire hanger last night and now i’m trembling. jesus christ.
Damn…keep keepin’ on and keep us posted. I think “lifestyle change” is the key mindset to have. Even though I think people think I’m talking about a sudden change in my sexual orientation whenever I use that phrase.
I’m glad you and Chris are doing this together…makes all the difference. As a couple, my husband and I are able to do a low sugar/refined carb diet but have a hard time shaking our on-the-wagon vs off-the-wagon mentality. I lost 18, then gained 4 back in 2 weeks of vacation and Halloween.
I need to envision long term goals (not getting diabetes, keeping up with my son, kicking this back pain, etc) instead of focusing on the short term (losing weight for the holidays when I’ll see my mom). It always comes back to mom, doesn’t it?!?!
Regardless of all of this, I’m completely impressed by what you’re doing for yourself! Invest in good tupperware and little ziplok baggies…for all the produce.
I do wish you the best, because you are embarking on a New Thing. However, it still sounds like a diet to me… can you eat this way forever? OK, maybe forever is a long time, but you know what I mean. Without the reins, if you do ever take them off… will you be worried about gaining weight?
I am a former WW’er too, and although it “worked” in the sense that I lost weight on it, it ruined me for a while by making me food obsessed. I’m now not dieting at all any more, but BROADLY following the principles of Intuitive Eating (a great read, by the way, very common-sensical). But, I am the kind of person who really can’t live with restrictions as to food.
By the way I saw your column in the NY Times magazine. Congrats! It was great.
Well, yeah, it IS a diet right now, because it sets limits. I wouldn’t be counting days otherwise.
I’ll write more about this later, but I did this back in the winter and as a result I started cooking and shopping differently, and stopped thinking I needed to have certain things (and even lost my taste for some stuff). And even though I didn’t diet all spring or summer, a lot of the habits have stuck (I mean, I THINK. It’s too early to tell). Of course, even though we’d been eating more veggies and doing most of our shopping in produce stores all year, we were still ordering a lot of takeout, and that didn’t help. Really, a good part of This Thing is making a concerted effort to NOT do dumb stuff like get pizza and Thai noodles several times a month.
Some of this Thing involves restrictions, but I feel like a lot of it involves developing habits. I think the problem I had with WW is that the only habits I really learned were counting and going to meetings, and those didn’t really engage any other part of my life and it was too easy to just drop them.
Of COURSE I’m afraid of gaining weight back. But right now I’m thinking it’ll happen more as a result of doing certain crappy things (i.e., depending on take-out and eating out too much) than NOT sticking with this plan. Does that make sense?
It does make sense; once something becomes ingrained, it’s yours. I think the important thing is that it feels right to you.
I know what you mean about the guy thing too. When my boyfriend wants to lose weight, he’ll just cut back to a smaller bowl of ice cream or only half a bag of pretzels or only a 6 ounce burger, and the pounds will fall off. (Of course, somehow he eventually puts them back on, but no stress for him because he knows how easy it is to get rid of them).
Keep us posted!
Has anyone else looked into “Skinny Bitch”? I know, obnoxious name, but really clear and sound principles on lifestyle change and health. I was suprised. I read a friend’s copy and it was mostly stuff I already do. Maybe that’s the root of my own ‘naturally thin’?
Good luck with the Thing. It does look very sensible. Tell us some of your favorite recipes!
Hey Wendy –
Have you tried the Muir Glen soups? They’re all organic and vegan-like and Jewel-Osco is always featuring a deal on them. Both the lentil and the tomato are fab – – and you just pop-top them open: blam – dinner.
Hi ummm i know this is a little weird but i want to get in shape. Becasue i look at the other girls at school and am like ughhh. How many points would i get if i am 10 years old?
Holli I read skinny bitch the other day and LOVED it, very helpful and great lifestyle changes even for people who are not overweight